According to a recent news report, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the National Geographic Society for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In that report, there’s a puzzling anecdoteaboutChris Johns, Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic magazine, who back in 2005 commissioned, then later killed a feature article about Egypt which shed light on the brutal reign of Egypt’s then-President Hosni Mubarak. The story — (presciently) reported and written six years before the democratic uprisings of the Arab Spring — was the work of Chris Hedges, a former Mideast bureau chief for The New York Times and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Why did Chris Johns kill Chris Hedges’ Egypt story? In that news report, the editor and the journalist offer contradictory explanations. According to Chris Hedges, his story was killed because National Geographic Television (NGT) had reviewed the manuscript, and concluded that publishing it would infuriate President Mubarak and his top lieutenants, who would deny NGT access to ancient archaeological sites in Egypt. Among those lieutenants: Zahi Hawass, who was then Egypt’s Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

Editor Chris Johns says killing the story was his decision, and his alone, and not the result of any pressure applied by National Geographic Television, or by Egyptian officials, including Zahi Hawass.

To help resolve these contradictions, and to discover exactly what happened and why, I conducted two separate interviews — one with Chris Hedges, the other with Chris Johns.

It’s worth noting that Chris Johns did NOT say: Chris Hedges’ reporting was poor. Or: Reza’s photographs were uninspiring. Or: The story failed to break any new ground. Or: I cannot fully articulate what troubled me about the story, and I still can’t quite find the words, so I followed my gut instincts and killed the story. Or: I don’t remember.

No. What Chris Johns says is: “It’s none of your business.”

In other words: I have a reason I killed this story, but I’m not going to tell you what it is.

In case you’re wondering if this episode is an outlier, or an anomaly, please remember that kowtowing to dictators is nothing new in the Chris Johns era. For example, back in 2007, Chris commissioned a story about another powerful regime that violently crushes the democratic aspirations of its own people. But when The (Editor’s) Decisive Moment arrived — to publish or not to publish — Chris Johns killed that story too. For details, please see:

Terry Garcia, Executive Vice President for National Geographic Mission Programs, picked up the phone when I called his office in mid-September to ask him some questions, including a few about Zahi Hawass. (Formerly the Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Hawass is also a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Emeritus.)

Although Terry didn’t have time to chat, he sent me an email later in the day, which initiated the following exchange:

This ruling is not a conviction of Zahi Hawass. However, the judge did determine that when Dr. Hawass signed the contract with National Geographic, he violated Egyptian law.

Why was the contract illegal? Because it was not signed with a government, museum, or scientific institute — a clear violation of Article 10 of Law #117. According to one source, Zahi tried to persuade former U.S. ambassador Margaret Scobey to officially endorse the exhibit, which would have made the contract a legal agreement with a foreign government, but she refused. Her letter to that effect was apparently introduced as evidence during the hearing.

The court also ruled the contract was a violation of Egyptian law because then-President Mubarak never approved the deal.

In Egypt, Zahi Hawass, who was a staunch defender of President Mubarak to the bitter end, remains in legal jeopardy. And as one very prominent face of the old regime, Zahi is not a popular man in Egypt. According to one source: “The contracts for the exhibits might become part of charges against Zahi for accepting bribes. Now we know it was Zahi himself who signed the contracts (and not some other Egyptian government official) with National Geographic and AEG/AE for the exhibits, and we know from the 990 forms he was taking payments from National Geographic at the same time. This is a crime under Egyptian law and it may be a violation of the FCPA [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] in the U.S. as well. … Investigators are working hard to collect more documents to build a watertight case against him. Zahi may be referred to trial within weeks.”

This illegal contract — and the disturbing possibility of bribery and corruption charges — reminds us of two stories we posted last year….

The first story is about Terry Garcia, the Society’s EVP for Mission Programs who worked closely with Zahi Hawass for many years. In May 2011, President Obama nominated Terry to become the next Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. But when the nomination stalled months later, Terry withdrew himself from consideration without explaining why.

(I called Terry’s office last year for comment, but he was “in a meeting” — and never called back.)

Zahi Hawass and Terry Garcia (via drhawass.com)

The second story is Zahi’s very public embrace of Terry Garcia — and Tim Kelly & John Fahey — just as the Senate nomination process began in May 2011, and just as Zahi’s government career in Egypt was crashing & burning along with the Mubarak regime. “Terry is one of the greatest friends that I have ever had in my life,” Zahi begins his blog post. “When I think about my closest friends, Terry is at the top of the list!”

Zahi then describes how Terry was a key player in the funding and organization of the Tutankhamun exhibition. At the end of the post, Zahi says: “I have faith that my two other good friends at National Geographic, John Fahey and Tim Kelly, will continue to support Egypt in the way that Terry has in the past.” (Read the whole thing here.)

Given that Zahi probably knew that his dealings with National Geographic were legally questionable, his energetic and very public embrace of Terry, Tim, and John sounds less like an endorsement or a heartfelt “thank you,” and more like an attempt to share the glare of a media and legal spotlight which Zahi must have worried he might ultimately occupy alone.

It’s almost as if Zahi is saying: You and me, guys — we’re all in this together!

For the sake of our Society’s reputation, it would be helpful to hear something — anything at all — from Terry, Tim or John about their dealings with Dr. Hawass, whose status inexplicably changed last year from National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence to National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence (Emeritus).

CAIRO — An Egyptian judge on Saturday sentenced former President Hosni Mubarak to life in prison for the killing of unarmed demonstrators during the first six days of protests that ended his rule. …

Reading his decision, Judge Rafaat waxed poetic about Mr. Mubarak’s government and the uprising that ended it. Mr. Mubarak’s rule was “30 years of intense darkness — black, black, black, the blackness of a chilly winter night,” the judge declared, when officials “committed the gravest sins, tyranny and corruption without accountability or oversight as their consciences died, their feelings became numb and their hearts in their chests turned blind.”

“The peaceful sons of the homeland came out of every deep ravine with all the pain they experienced from injustice, heartbreak, humiliation and oppression,” he added. “Bearing the burden of their suffering on their shoulders, they moved peacefully toward Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, demanding only justice, freedom and democracy.”

According the judge’s verdict, Mubarak is an “accessory to murder” in the killing of more than 240 demonstrators in the last six days of January 2011.

Here’s Zahi Hawass delivering a passionate and public defense of then-President Mubarak on February 6, 2011:

General Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud on Monday referred charges of wasting public money and stealing Egyptian antiquities against Zahi Hawass, former minister of state for antiquities to the Public Fund Prosecution office.

Nour El-Din Abdul-Samad, Director of Archeological Sites, had filed the accusations against Hawass, and requested that the objects in question be returned to the Egyptian Museum.

The Public Funds Prosecution office also received other charges accusing Hawass of wasting public money and exposing Egyptian antiquities to stealing in collaboration with former regime members.

Hawass is accused of sealing a deal with the American Geographical Society [National Geographic Society] to display rare Egyptian antiquities in exhibitions across the United States and Australia, violating the law of protecting antiquities.

Hawass admitted in a television talk show that he had a 17 million dollar deal with the American Geographical Society [National Geographic Society] with regard to a Tutankhamun exhibition to raise donations for Suzanne Mubarak’s association, wife of former president Hosni Mubarak. Suzanne Mubarak’s association was a private association not a state body, and as such Hawass was not legally allowed to use his position as a state minister to raise funds for it.

The charges relate to Hawass agreeing to transfer and display 143 objects from the Egyptian Museum to Washington DC in 2003. The antiquities have yet to be returned to the museum.

These exhibitions violate the antiquities law that prohibits renting Egypt’s heritage. {emphasis added}

… In March 2011, Hawass denied signing an agreement with the American Geographical Society (National Geographic). Rather, he claimed that it was protocol whereby Egypt received a cat scan machine worth US$5 million for Egyptian scientists to conduct research on the mummy of Tutankhamun, in return for National Geographic to film the scientific work.

At the time, National Geographic was to pay an additional US$60,000 to the treasury of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

If these charges are true, and Zahi Hawass really did commit a crime, then two other stories from last year suddenly seem relevant again….

The first story is about Terry Garcia, the Society’s EVP for Mission Programs who worked closely with Zahi for many years. Last May, President Obama nominated Terry to become the next Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. But when the nomination stalled months later, Terry withdrew himself from consideration without explaining why.

(I called Terry’s office last year for comment, but he was “in a meeting” — and never called back.)

Zahi Hawass and Terry Garcia (via drhawass.com)

The second story is Zahi’s very public embrace of Terry Garcia — and Tim Kelly & John Fahey — just as the Senate nomination process began last May, and just as Zahi’s government career in Egypt was crashing & burning along with the Mubarak regime. “Terry is one of the greatest friends that I have ever had in my life,” Zahi begins his blog post. “When I think about my closest friends, Terry is at the top of the list!”

Zahi then describes how Terry was a key player in the funding and organization of the Tutankhamun exhibition. At the end of the post, Zahi says: “I have faith that my two other good friends at National Geographic, John Fahey and Tim Kelly, will continue to support Egypt in the way that Terry has in the past.” (Read the whole thing here.)

Given the recent criminal allegations by Egypt’s General Prosecutor, Zahi’s energetic and very public embrace of Terry, Tim, and John begins to sound less like an endorsement or a heartfelt “thank you,” and more like an attempt to share the glare of a media and legal spotlight which Zahi must have worried he might ultimately occupy alone.

It’s almost as if Zahi is saying: You and me, guys — we’re all in this together!

For the sake of our Society’s reputation, it would be helpful to hear something — anything at all — from Terry, Tim or John about their dealings with Dr. Hawass, whose status inexplicably changed last year from National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence to National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence (Emeritus).

… It has been said that in order to know the future, you have to know the past. An expert on the vast history of Egypt, and the archeologist’s extensive knowledge of the past has [Zahi Hawass] worried about what lies ahead.

“Not learning from history will leave us in a state of confusion during these coming times,” Hawass said.

He likened the Egyptian revolution to a similar one that took place four millennia ago, which he said was the first revolution in ancient history and the first-ever interim period.

“Over 4,000 years ago, a king ruled Egypt at the age of 8 and stayed in power until the age of 98,” Hawass says. “When he became old, his power decreased, and the power of his cronies increased. This is what happened with Mubarak as well.”

That ancient revolution lasted 150 years, and the interim period was characterized by chaos, crime, and a lack of security, according to the archaeologist.

Hawass also voiced his concern about the upcoming elections. “It will be hard to ensure free and fair elections,” he said. “Egyptians are used to fraud.”

The good news is that ancient Egypt has long served not as democracy’s North Star, but as its opposite — as the historic (and cinematic) counterpoint to a very different, and far more hopeful, worldview:

CAIRO — An ailing Hosni Mubarak, who served longer than any ruler of modern Egypt until he was overthrown in a revolution in February, was rolled into a courtroom in a hospital bed on Wednesday and charged with corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters. The trial was a seminal moment for Egypt and an Arab world roiled by revolt.

Even the most ardent in calling for his prosecution doubted until hours before the trial began that Mr. Mubarak, 83, would appear, a reflection of the suspicion and unease that reigns here. As a helicopter ferried him to the courtroom, housed in a police academy that once bore his name, cheers went up from a crowd gathered outside.

“The criminal is coming!” shouted Maged Wahba, a 40-year-old lawyer.

The sheer symbolism of the day made it one of the most visceral episodes in modern Arab history. In a region whose destiny was so long determined by rulers who deemed their people unfit to rule, one of those rulers was being tried by his public. …

As a headline in a popular Egyptian newspaper read: “The Day of Judgment.”

Since 2002, revenue from overseas exhibitions of rare artifacts has gone to the family of toppled President Hosni Mubarak, an Egyptian antiquities official alleged Tuesday.

Abdel Rahman al-Aidy, head of the Central Department for the Artifacts of Central Egypt, said during a press conference on Tuesday that the attorney general had yet to take action on 21 reports Aidy filed calling for an investigation into well-known former Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass and his aides.

He said he had prepared a list of the “five chief corrupt figures at the Supreme Council of Antiquities,” and added that he will file a report against them this week.

Meanwhile, Hawass has denied the accusation, saying a King Tut exhibition in the US generated US$70 million for Egypt, funds he said were used to finance the construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum. ...

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About

Hi. I'm Alan Mairson. I'm a freelance journalist based in Bethesda, Maryland; a former staff writer & editor for National Geographic magazine; and a member & lifelong fan of the National Geographic Society. For details about this project, please check out our inaugural post. For more about my advisers & me, see this. To feel the tight financial grip that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation exerts on the National Geographic Society, peek at these tax returns. And if you'd like to share ideas, questions, or suggestions — or if you just want to heckle :-) — please contact me here. Thanks for stopping by.